This year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France. Over the past 60 years, the two countries' shared commitment to independence, mutual attraction of their splendid cultures, and extensive practical cooperation driven by broad interests have continuously enriched the economic and trade substance of their comprehensive strategic partnership and steadily expanded the scope of cooperation. Under the conditions of the new era, China-France cooperation demonstrates a clear development trend of strategic guidance, two-way engagement, multi-pronged cooperation, and win-win outcomes for all.

　　China-France cooperation spans important energy and frontier technology sectors as well as everyday food and consumer goods in people's daily lives. France is currently China's third-largest trading partner and third-largest source of actual investment within the EU, while China is France's largest trading partner in Asia and seventh-largest globally. In 2023, bilateral trade between China and France reached US$78.9 billion, an increase of nearly 800 times compared with the early days of diplomatic relations; cumulative two-way investment has exceeded US$26 billion; and there are more than 2,100 French companies in China employing over 300,000 people in total. A number of French companies, including Airbus, EDF, Danone, OPmobility, and Sanofi, have benefited from cooperation with China, and both sides have achieved excellent win-win results.

　　Under the new circumstances, the breadth and depth of China-France economic and trade relations will continue to expand, and new areas, models, and growth drivers of cooperation will keep emerging. The two sides have reached agreement on a whole-industrial-chain cooperation mechanism to promote "from French farms to Chinese tables." "French flavors" will cross the oceans, and more high-quality French agri-food products will appear on the dining tables of Chinese consumers in the future. French daily consumer goods, known for their strong sense of design and fashion, have long been popular among Chinese consumers, and these products will further enrich the beautiful lives of the Chinese people. Airbus's second A320 Family final assembly line in China will begin operations by the end of 2025, and China's supply chain has become an indispensable part of the global aviation manufacturing industry.

　　China has a super-large market, a complete industrial supporting system, rich application scenarios, and strong economies of scale. New technologies, new industries, and new business forms are developing rapidly, bringing enormous opportunities to countries around the world, including France. China's determination to expand high-level opening up has shown French entrepreneurs new room for cooperation in their respective fields and greatly strengthened their confidence in future China-France industrial investment cooperation. At previous China International Import Expos, France ranked among the top countries globally in terms of the number of exhibitors, exhibition area, and intended transaction value. During the sixth China International Import Expo in 2023, 140 French exhibitors participated enthusiastically. France will also be the Country of Honor at the seventh China International Import Expo and the China International Fair for Trade in Services in 2024, and China-France cooperation will reap more development opportunities.

　　In the new era, China-France relations will maintain a positive and enterprising momentum of development, and the breadth and depth of bilateral cooperation will continue to expand. The two sides will continue to deepen cooperation in traditional areas of strength such as space and aviation, and expand cooperation in emerging fields such as green energy, smart manufacturing, biomedicine, and artificial intelligence. China and France have issued joint statements on artificial intelligence and global governance, biodiversity and the ocean, and agricultural exchanges and cooperation, and signed nearly 20 bilateral cooperation documents covering green development, aviation, and agri-food, among others.

　　China-France cooperation contributed to the conclusion of the Paris Agreement on climate change and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, strongly advancing the global climate agenda. China regards promoting low-carbon transition and green development as an important national development strategy, and the concept of ecological civilization is deeply rooted in the public mind. China's determination, intensity, and achievements in advancing green and low-carbon development have attracted global attention. Both China and France are steadfast actors in promoting green and low-carbon development, and the two countries share basically the same view on the global long-term energy structure. France is currently advancing "reindustrialization" based on green innovation, and China-France cooperation to jointly promote green development has broad prospects.

　　China is developing rapidly in the digital economy and artificial intelligence. China has advantages in massive data and rich application scenarios, ranks among the world's leaders in digital infrastructure, is rapidly enhancing its capacity for innovation in the digital industry, and is steadily advancing the digital transformation of industries. France has also proposed building itself into a leading artificial intelligence economy in Europe and even the world, and the two sides have enormous potential and room for cooperation.

　　Against the backdrop of a closely connected global economy and highly intertwined interests, the stable development and continuous deepening of China-France relations will provide more impetus for the development of China-EU relations and play an irreplaceable constructive role in steering the world back to the right path of cooperation rather than confrontation and win-win rather than zero-sum, avoiding a return to the old path of bloc confrontation, practicing true multilateralism, and jointly addressing global challenges such as climate change.

　　China will advance deep-level reform and high-quality development through high-level opening up and accelerate the development of new quality productive forces. China has now fully opened up manufacturing access and will accelerate the relaxation of access in services such as telecommunications and healthcare. China's door to opening up will open wider and wider, which will create more development opportunities for companies from all countries, including France. China-France economic and trade cooperation will continue to reach new heights, benefit the peoples of both countries more, and inject more stability and positive energy into global development in the new era.